Portintruan

Several years ago, Elixir Distillers announced plans to build a new distillery on the peat-smoked island of Islay, famous for its peat smoke. The most enticing location imaginable - just around the corners of the village of Port Ellen - has been waiting for years, first for the proper permits, then for construction to begin, now for it to be completed and production to begin. However, until yesterday it was not known what the new distillery would be called.

The area where construction work has already begun six months ago is called Farkin. So it was fairly widely assumed that this was also the name of the new distillery. Unofficially, however, it is said that the name phonetically lies too close to a certain English uncensored word, also beginning with the letter "F," and this could have an adverse effect on the marketing of the whiskey produced here. So it was decided to Portintruan [wym. portnatruan], the name of a farm once located where construction is taking place today.

According to Elixir Distillers co-owner Sukhinder Singh, in the Portintruan the past will meet the future. The whisky production process will use a range of old, now abandoned techniques to give the whisky additional depth and character. Production will primarily use barley malt produced in the distillery's own malting plant on the premises, dried over peat smoke to various levels of phenolic concentration. Where this will not jeopardize product quality, state-of-the-art technologies will be used. Also high on the priority list is sustainability and minimizing the carbon footprint.

Portintruan will in practice be a plant within which two distilleries will operate. In addition to the core production, there will also be experimental activities, part of the distillery will produce various types of Scotch whisky, often different from the core production profile, as well as rum. Plans for the new distillery also include 14 houses for distillery employees and their families, a reception area, a bar and restaurant, a separate building with tasting rooms overlooking the sea, and a training area for the next generation of distillers.

Construction work is expected to be completed in the spring of 2024, and production is expected to begin then as well. Meanwhile, as part of this year's Fèis Ìle festival, scheduled to begin on May 27, two barracks will be set up on the site of the distillery, which is currently under construction, in which the Portintruan will welcome visitors wishing to take a look at the distillery at this early stage of its development. It is estimated that about 10,000 whisky lovers from around the world will then come to the island.

Portintruan will be the eleventh whisky maker on Scotland's most famous distilled island, and will be headed - or actually already is - by Georgie Crawford, previously associated with several Diageo flagship projects. She was head of the Visitor Center at Talisker on the Isle of Skye, then served as manager of the Lagavulin distillery on Islay, then was in charge of the rebuilt and restarted legend of the Scottish distilling industry, Port Ellen, and finally ended up at Elixir Distillers and Portintruan.


[10.05.2022 / graphic: Elixir Distillers]